Marie Kohler

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This article is about the playwright. For the social worker and philanthropist, see Marie Christine Kohler.
Marie House Kohler
BornFebruary 8, 1951
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
OccupationPlaywright

Marie House Kohler (born 1951) is an American writer and playwright. She is a member of the Kohler family of Wisconsin.[1]

Biography[]

Playwright, theater producer, director and writer, Marie Kohler is the daughter of John Michael Kohler III and Julilly House Kohler. Raised in Kohler, Wisconsin at Riverbend, the home built by her grandfather Gov. Walter J. Kohler, she graduated from Kohler High School in 1969. She earned an Honors BA from Harvard University (1973, Magna Cum Laude) and received an MA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (1979). Both degrees are in English Literature. Kohler also studied criticism with Stanley Kauffmann at CUNY and directing for theater at The Barrow Group in New York City.

In 1993, Kohler co-founded Renaissance Theaterworks with Suzan Fete, Raeleen McMillion, Jennifer Rupp and Michele Traband to create outstanding theatrical experiences and cultivate professional opportunities for women in theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She served there as Co-Artistic Director for twenty years and Resident Playwright through 2019, when she left to pursue her own artistic goals - including presenting her play Boswell at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019 to notable reviews.

Career/Personal Life[]

Kohler’s interest in theater began early when her mother took her to multiple local and national productions. She formed the first drama club of her high school, earning her the school’s first Humanities Award. In college she performed frequently. She met her future husband Colin Cabot while playing Desdemona in Othello at Harvard Dramatic Society. They married in 1974 and moved to Wisconsin, where Cabot worked at Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee. There the couple raised their daughters Anne and Marie-Christine.

Kohler completed her master's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1979 and soon began writing film reviews for the Milwaukee Sentinel and freelancing as a journalist for various Milwaukee and Wisconsin-based, as well as national, publications.

After the couple separated, Kohler turned her professional attention to acting (as a member of Actors' Equity Association) and to freelance journalism. In 1989, Kohler met Brian Mani while both were performing in a theatrical adaptation of Great Expectations; they married in 1992 and Kohler gained her step-daughter Tricia Rose Hooper. Kohler began her playwriting career in 1993. Since then, she has written six professionally produced plays - garnering strong notices and awards. She created several roles for Mani, a classically trained actor with American Players Theatre. They have frequently worked together on plays she’s written, produced or directed.

The Milwaukee Arts Board named Kohler “Artist of the Year” (2005) and “Friend of the Arts” (2020). For seven years she served on the Wisconsin Humanities Council, and currently serves  on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside's Advisory Board for the College of Arts & Humanities.

Plays Authored[]

Playwriting Awards[]

A Girl of the Limberlost

  • Julie Harris Playwright Award, Beverly Hills Theatre Guild, Honorable Mention – 2014

Boswell

  • Edinburgh Fringe – Four-Star Reviews

The Dig

  • Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Nominee – 2009
  • Playwrights' Center Lab, Finalist – 2009
  • Playwrights First, Semi-Finalist – 2009

Boswell’s Dreams

  • Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Nominee – 2005
  • Best of Year, Milwaukee Magazine – 2005
  • Abingdon Award, Finalist – 2005
  • Wisconsin Wrights, Finalist – 2005

Midnight & Moll Flanders

  • Best New Play, Milwaukee Magazine – 2000
  • Best of the Year, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – 2000
  • Inkslinger Playwriting Competition, Semifinalist – 2018

Counting Days

  • Best New Regional Play, American Theatre Critics Association, Nominee – 1995
  • New Play Festival, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, Finalist – 1995
  • Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Nominee – 1995

Artist / Witch House (working title) - in development with Josh Schmidt, composer

  • Todd McNerney Playwriting Award, Finalist – 2017
  • Wisconsin Wrights New Play Festival, Finalist – 2017

Directing Credits[]

Productions

  • Boswell by Marie Kohler, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2019 (co-directed with Laura Gordon)
  • Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, 2015
  • The Kreutzer Sonata by Nancy Harris, Renaissance Theaterworks, 2015
  • Honor by Joanna Murray-Smith, Renaissance Theaterworks, 2012
  • A Phoenix Too Frequent by Christopher Fry, Renaissance Theaterworks, 2012

Play Readings

  • The Children by Lucy Kirkwood, Third Avenue Playhouse (via Zoom), 2021
  • Duck by Christine Kallmann, Renaissance Theaterworks, 2016, 2017
  • Trifles by Susan Glaspell, American Players Theater, 2016
  • Fog by Eugene O’Neill, American Players Theater, 2016
  • Censored on Final Approach by Phylis Ravel, Renaissance Theaterworks, 2013
  • Bus Stop by William Inge, Renaissance Theaterworks, 2008
  • The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Renaissance Theaterworks, 2005

Journalism[]

Kohler has published pieces in the following periodicals:

  • American Theatre Magazine
  • Milwaukee Sentinel
  • Milwaukee Footlights
  • Milwaukee Magazine
  • Milwaukee Metro
  • Shepherd Express
  • Wisconsin Academy Review
  • Historic Preservation Magazine
  • Art Muscle

References[]

  1. ^ Kurt Chandler (November 8, 2007). "Profile: Book of Dreams". Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.

External links[]

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